Show me the Money.

“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip. “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money."---Matthew 25:14-16. If, like me, you grew up in the church, you more then likely have heard this story many times. It is one of 4 or 5 "Parables" Jesus told to His disciples. I don't think He told them one after another, I think He told them over the course of His time here on Earth with His friends. What does this one mean? Well, I have always thought, "Talents" were at that time money, but today we think of our "gifts" or our "abilities", as in "He/She is so talented". Yes, I have thought of the correlation between the "talents" (abilities) that God gives us, and how we should use them to bring in others that also have "talents". I have also thought of the money aspect of this "parable" as well. There is a saying; "Time is Money", usually said by someone who is very dedicated to making more money. But, if "Time IS money,", then time could be considered a "Talent", because in Jesus' day a "Talent" was a amount of currency. So to bring this all the way home, If you say, have a few hours a week, after work, on the weekends, TIME on your hands, what do you do with it? Do you bury it under a rock to keep it safe , so you will have it if you need it later? Time doesn't work like that, you cannot save some back for use later. " I have 35 days saved up, Lord, so I would like to cash those in at this time"> The 3 servants mentioned in this parable each did something different with their "Talents"/ "Money"/"Time". The first two turned it into more, but the last got lazy and buried it in the ground were it would be "safe". Talents, Money, and Time are three gifts from God. We have no way of knowing how much we have and have not, only God determines this. BUT, we do have a say in what we do with what we have. I have not thought of how close these three things are related, until I read this scripture again this morning. Talent, Time and Money are, it seems, the three things we, as humans, HOARD, the most. We want to use two of these to make the other, and this will make us happy. What is the first thing you think of when you think of someone who is very talented and known world wide for their talent? Wow, I bet they are rich. You talk about a certain sports star, or actor/actress or musician or well known person for whatever reason, and the subject of how much money they make will come up. You see we seem to think that Talent, and Time are only there to make us rich. Who gave us these things again, oh yeah it was God. Why would God give some of us these things and not all of us? Why are some people just talented to their toes, and others don't have a creative cell in their whole body? I don't know, but I do know that YOU have a talent, and you have time to do what you want. If you really enjoy something or someone your going to find a way to find time to do that or be with that person. How do you spend your time? Remember,time is money. Are you obsessed with using all your waking hours to make money. Are you obsessed with using all your talents to make it also? The Beatles told us that "Money Can't Buy You Love". Well Talent cannot either. Fame, fortune, good looks, they all leave us were we where before we realized we had them. What, then do we do with our Talents and time? There is nothing wrong, I believe, with using your talents or time to make money to have a good life. BUT God has given each of us more time and talents (or perhaps the same talents) then we really need to make a living. One of the talents that God gave my Mom, and it was passed down to me, is the ability to talk and get to know people. I love people. Just ask some of my past employers how much time I talked, compared to how much time I worked. I love to talk to people,get to know them, find about what they think, how they live, who they love, their families..............Is this a talent? Sure it is, my Dad is just the opposite, he has a very hard time starting a conversation with just anyone on the street. But he can preach, quote the scriptures, tell you chapter and verse of just about any subject in the Bible, these are his talents, he has spent many years (time) studying the Bible and used this time and talent to glorify and praise the name of Jesus. So, how do we use our gifts the Lord has given us for Him? Well first we ask Him. Sometimes it is just a matter of want. What do we want to do, and what do we not want to do. If your spouse asks you to go shopping with her, and you were planning on watching the big game, what do you do? It all comes down to want vs. caring. How much do we want to watch the big game versus how much we love our spouse. (You can say you were "nagged" into it, but I know better, the only reason you give into "nagging" is because you care) Say they are having a "Fall Fest" at your church on Super Bowl Sunday. (I guess that would be more like a "Early Spring/ Late Winter Fest") But anyway, you know you should volunteer but who has one of these things on Super Bowl Sunday? So, after much debate you decide to do the right thing and help out. You find yourself having the time of your life, there are kids from the neighborhood, there is music, there are skits, there are families having such a good time. You fit right in, you help set up, you help serve snacks, and drinks. You help out wherever you can. THEN you realize your church did not forget it was Super Bowl Sunday, and they have set up the big projection TV in one of the big Sunday school rooms for a Super Bowl Watching party" after the "Fest" They announced this, but you only heard the words "On such and such date, and then all you thought of was "OH NO< not THAT Sunday" while they were talking about the Super Bowl watching party. You see it all worked out. God rewarded you for using your time and talents to work for Him. (This illustration actually happened to me, years ago, I believe the last time the Dallas Cowboys played in the Super Bowl, so it has been a long time!!) Sometimes when we use our talents/money/time for the things of God, He rewards us, No, my bad, ALL the time we use our talents/time/money for the things of God He rewards us. God rewards us for the things we are expected to do, BUT He rewards us even more when we go "above and beyond". Years ago my uncle and aunt gave their hearts to the Lord. They got involved in a local church and started paying their tithes. Somehow they got confused, or maybe they wanted to do this but they paid 90% instead of the required 10% of their income as tithe to the church. God rewarded them like you wouldn't believe. My uncle was healed from CO2 poising, he was a border patrol agent in San Diego for years and all the cars with running engines put allot of CO2 in the air. God blessed them financially, he blessed them in their jobs, He blessed them in their marriage..............They wen "above and beyond" what He expected of them and He blessed them for it. God gives us talent, He gives us time, and He gives us Money from our time and talent. What we do with these three things will determine how our lives will unfold. And it will determine where we spend eternity after we die. Spend your time, money and talents carefully, my friend, because they are precious gifts. Don't just bury them in the ground or bank so that you will have them safe to show God,when He returns, :"Look, God, I still have that one bag of silver you gave to me, see here it is" "Why is it so dirty?" He asks, "Because I buried it in the ground to keep it safe". "You didn't even understand what I wanted you to do, did you, how selfish you are.". There is a old saying: "It's not what you have, it is what you do with what you have". What has God given you, What are you doing with it?